Tollygunge adds colours to cine palette at fraction of Bollywood, South cost
Times of India | 14 March 2025
12 Kolkata: Satyajit Ray's ‘Kanchenjunga' (1962) was the first Bengali film in colour with Subrata Mitra behind the lens. With the turn of the century, the palette of Bengali cinema has evolved significantly. Today's audiences no longer complain about washed-out looks. Contemporary Bengali movies like ‘Bohurupi', ‘Deep Fridge' and ‘Dhrubor Aschorjo Jibon (DAJ)' boast colours as vibrant as their Hindi or South Indian counterparts. How is Tollywood setting a new benchmark by achieving this stunning visual quality with just a fraction of the budgets that Hindi or South Indian cinema is made of?
Most cinematographers here have a film school background with great exposure to world cinema. "Bengali technicians are some of the best technical people just based on their calibre. We don't have the budget or equipment support that our equivalent contemporaries have. But we are using our problem-solving skills, intelligence and command over the craft to deliver," said cinematographer Modhura Palit from SRFTI.
In ‘DAJ', cinematographer Arnab Laha used references of Sergei Parajanov's ‘Colour of Pomegranates', Cory Wexler Grant's ‘Painter' and Steven Spielberg's ‘A.I. Artificial Intelligence'. Tollywood now has access to high-end cameras but the secret lies in being innovative since the budgets for lights was minimal. "My film's lighting design oscillates between stark contrasts and diffused glows, creating a dreamlike yet tangible world so that each story represents different genres. We tried to keep each frame composed like a painting, with rich textures, bold colour palettes, and chiaroscuro lighting patterns from European paintings that reflect the emotional and thematic depth of the narrative. Not having budgets is an alibi," said SRFTI alumnus Laha.
For a cinematic recreation of Gaganendranath Tagore's Pratima Visarjan painting, he spotted a location in Coley Barrack near Sealdah that matched the painting's setting. Two DINO lights, each costing around Rs 500 daily, were used along with a single Solar 2K light. Some 80% of crew members pitched in as actors wearing costumes in red, white, off-white, or yellow. Smart thinking also helps in cost-cutting. "I used tungsten fixtures instead of PAR/LED lights that are used in the industry. I got fixtures like solar 5K, 2K, 1K for just Rs 200-Rs 300," Laha said. As a result, the daily light budget for filming was a paltry Rs 5,000. In Bollywood, a low budget film would have a daily light budget of Rs 30,000 to Rs 2 lakh.
Another big difference happens at the post-production stage. "Look depends on meticulous planning. The trick is to plan the shoot in advance and then execute the colour correction whilst adhering to the predetermined specifications," said colourist Debojyoti Ghosh.